Absalom takes Jerusalem Introduction : 'Providence' - difference between abstract and particular. FCF: What do you make of God's chosen king? It is the dividing line across everything (even our own hearts). H1 - outright denial and rejection. H2 - lip service, theological words etc. But he rules a certain allocated domain in my life, not every thought, motive, word, deed. In the gospel, we are introduced to a King who pursues his people and demonstrates his unmistakable, undying love for them. How are we responding, right now? [Good soil] Two ways to live demonstrated here: allegiance to God's King, or plotting against him. Psalm 2 the paradigm. 1. Absalom follows Ahithophel's awful advice, v15-23 Hushai's double meanings in speaking with Absalom. Absalom's vanity interprets all of it as loyalty. Ahithophel has his own vendetta against David - and cf v2 what David did in private is now done in the sight of all. On the roof, in the royal residence. Where all this had started. But the flaw in Ahithophel's wisdom was to promote a vengeance act which was never, ever lawful in the Torah; lex talionis functions differently with adultery. It is not punished by adultery. The LORD really has turned his counsel into foolishness. NB Absalom who once was so full of rage and indignation at his brother's sexual violence now commits the same act, 10 times over, to his father. Application directions: 2. Absalom follows Hushai's rescuing advice, v1-26 Ahithophel's strategy is a) overwhelming force, b) surprise, and c) narrow objective - just kill David. Hushai in response appeals to logic, caution, and subtle appeal to Absalom's vanity. Here is another striking example of 'providence'; God keeping and providing for David through the harsh plots which God frustrates and causes to come to nothing. What if Absalom had never asked Hushai v5? What if Hushai had never been there at all? 12,000 men against David, and awful civil war. v14 there is the explicit interpretation; God had ordained (commanded) this. Absalom is an object of wrath, to display God's patience and greatness. v15-20 the intelligence network [cf spy novels]. The brave unnamed lady a great heroine! cf Rahab. Were they wrong to lie about the whereabouts, v20 etc? cf Hebrew midwives. David and co cross the Jordan, 'into exile'. It is the word of the LORD (cf chapter 12) coming about. Actually it is YHWH handing over David - to a degree - through the evil actions of Absalom, Ahithophel - who are all judged for their treachery. Similarly, although Jesus was handed over/betrayed/paradidomi by Judas, we're told that Romans 8.32 God handed him over for us all. Hence the irony of the cross [recap that]. Remember God's promises to David; 1 Samuel 28.17, 2 Samuel 3.18; 2 Samuel 5.2; 7.12-16. Consolation and confidence amidst seeming mess, chaos, and failure of God's plans. Application directions: Conclusion : Ahithophel the Judas of the OT. v23 Ahithophel a type of Judas? Betrayal for some kind of personal gain, which leads to suicide. Ahithophel's death; he has lost his idol of revenge on David. And he knows he will be executed on David's return. And this serves as an implicit critique on human wisdom; such a theme through 1-2 Samuel (Saul, Absalom, etc). David is not just an employer, whom you can switch when it doesn't suit you. He is God's messiah. So to rebel against him - betray him, in Ahithophel's case - is to rebel against God. That's why he's the Judas of the OT. God working all things to preserve his chosen one God working to harden and destroy those in rebellion against him. What do you make of God's chosen King?

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Look-up

OT

2 Samuel 16:15-17:26

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Absalom Enters Jerusalem 15 h Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16 And when Hushai the Archite, h David’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, i “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17 And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? j Why did you not go with your friend?” 18 And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19 And again, k whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.” 20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” 21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to l your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and m the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom n on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines o in the sight of all Israel. 23 Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, p both by David and by Absalom. Hushai Saves David 17 1 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is q weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. r I will strike down only the king, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, 1 and all the people will be at peace.” 4 And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel. 5 Then Absalom said, “Call s Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8 Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, 1 t like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall 1 at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10 Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly u melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11 But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, v from Dan to Beersheba, w as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12 So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13 If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” x For the Lord had ordained 1 to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. 15 y Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. 16 Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at z the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be a swallowed up.’” 17 Now b Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at c En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at d Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. 19 e And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook 1 of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, f “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to g his own city. He h set his house in order and i hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father. 24 Then David came to j Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25 Now Absalom had set k Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, 1 who had married Abigal the daughter of l Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.